TY - JOUR
T1 - A League is born: the League of Ireland’s inaugural season, 1921-1922
AU - Heffernan, Conor
AU - Taylor, Joeseph
PY - 2021/9/29
Y1 - 2021/9/29
N2 - The 1921-1922 football season saw the creation of the League of Ireland. Envisioned as an all-Ireland competition, the League was envisioned as a new wide sweeping competition which would help to unite the various football leagues around Ireland. Prior to this time, regional leagues existed. Born at a time of considerable social and political unrest, the League of Ireland was warmly received by football fans and journalists alike. Despite the fact that the League’s eight teams all came from Dublin, media coverage was found throughout Ireland. Thus, fans outside of Leinster could learn about the success and failures of Frankfort, Jacobs, Bohemians and their fellow League of Ireland teams. Shedding light on a previously underexplored part of the League’s history, the following study tracks the difficulties and popularity of the League’s inaugural season. In doing so, it is argued that the League was highly dependent on media coverage of the season, which attempted to keep public interest in the games at a time when broader political and economic problems threatened to stop the League’s progress. The League’s survival was, in many ways, predicated on its relationship with the media.
AB - The 1921-1922 football season saw the creation of the League of Ireland. Envisioned as an all-Ireland competition, the League was envisioned as a new wide sweeping competition which would help to unite the various football leagues around Ireland. Prior to this time, regional leagues existed. Born at a time of considerable social and political unrest, the League of Ireland was warmly received by football fans and journalists alike. Despite the fact that the League’s eight teams all came from Dublin, media coverage was found throughout Ireland. Thus, fans outside of Leinster could learn about the success and failures of Frankfort, Jacobs, Bohemians and their fellow League of Ireland teams. Shedding light on a previously underexplored part of the League’s history, the following study tracks the difficulties and popularity of the League’s inaugural season. In doing so, it is argued that the League was highly dependent on media coverage of the season, which attempted to keep public interest in the games at a time when broader political and economic problems threatened to stop the League’s progress. The League’s survival was, in many ways, predicated on its relationship with the media.
M3 - Article
JO - Soccer and Society
JF - Soccer and Society
SN - 1466-0970
ER -